A cursory examination of the merits of Japanese cinema would place the highly acclaimed dramas of Akira Kurosawa at or near the top while the Japanese monster movies that followed in the wake of Inoshiro Honda’s original GODZILLA would surely be ranked near or at the bottom even though far more people have seen the Godzilla movies than have seen Kurosawa’s (not counting such Western remakes such as THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN or A FISTFUL OF DOLLARS). In between those two extremes there are a variety of offerings of which Kaneto Shindo’s ONIBABA (1964) is one of the finest examples of Japanese filmmaking. Shindo began his career as a screenwriter for Kenji Mizoguchi (UGETSU) before branching out as a director of his own screenplays. According to imdb, he is still alive (b.1912) having directed his 45th film, POSTCARD, in 2010 at the age of 98. That has to be some kind of record.
After a string of realistic dramas, Shindo made two so-called ghost films in the 1960s, ONIBABA and KURONEKO (1968). ONIBABA is the better known and while not a horror film per se though often categorized as one, it contains many horrific elements in its portrayal of the disintegration of its characters’ relationships with each other. In war torn medieval Japan two women eke out a living by murdering returning samurai, stripping their bodies of anything of value, dumping them in a vast hole, and then bartering the objects for food with a local profiteer. The dynamic is changed when a neighbor returns from the wars and makes a play for the younger of the two. The older then hatches a plan to scare the younger back into line by the use of a demonic mask (seen on the DVD cover) that she has recovered but things don’t go as planned and the film ends on a note of horror and despair.
The setting of a field of constantly moving high grass, stark b&w photography, and a dissonant modern score create a mood of unease that grows as the film progresses. The mask, though not introduced until late in the film, becomes a character unto itself. It should also be mentioned that ONIBABA (which translates as THE DEMON WOMAN) is really an intense psycholoical drama that centers around sex (or the lack of it) and what that does to the three principals. It is very explicit for a film made in 1964 with scenes of nudity and lovemaking that some may find offensive. Needless to say it is not a film for children although the use of b & w coupled with a foreign language and subtitles should keep them from watching it for any length of time. Criterion’s transfer looks great on my flatscreen and, as always with Criterion, there are a plethora of extras. A richly rewarding film but definitely not for everyone.
The Capsule Critic 